Late October Wind

Friday, October Thirtieth, Nineteen Seventy One.

Tyler Deane knocked on Masha's door. He heard nothing. He knew she'd be late, as usual, but he thought she ought to be up by now. It was nine thirty, for goodness sake. The whole world was awake.

But Masha Yedvabnyy did not answer his knock, even after he knocked again, louder. He called in through the door to the small cottage, to no answer. His heart going cold, the twenty-one year old took out a key that he'd hoped he'd never have to use when Masha was inside the door he was about to open.

"Oh, Masha," Tyler groaned quietly as he looked through his large ring with about twenty keys. "Why do I have to wake you up?" Selecting a bronze key that had no ridges or anything on it, Tyler fit it into Masha's front doorknob and it molded into the shape of the keyhole. He twisted the key, and pushed the door open.

Immediately, the overwhelming smell of perfume hit him. He coughed, almost staggering, and then wondered what on earth was going on up in Masha's room. Replacing the key back onto his ring, it molded back into its original plain shape. Tyler pushed the door behind him, and swept his supple wand through the air, the strong odor dulling.

He went through the rooms, calling Masha's name, and hoping the stone in his stomach was not anything more than a silly worry. After going through the four downstairs rooms, the small kitchen, lavish dining room, fancy living room, and a less formal den, he raced up the rather steep wooden stairs two at a time.

He immediately went to Masha's bedroom, finding the door closed as it almost always was. "Masha?" Tyler called again, quieter than before. He was quite sure Masha was right behind the door, or at least somewhere on the other side of it. Tyler repeated her name louder, and eventually, limbs shaking with fear, Tyler opened the bedroom door with more dread than he'd ever experienced in his life.

-~•~-

Gently tracing her finger around the smooth rim of a ceramic mug of cocoa, Lisa Valentine sighed deeply, inhaling the sweet smell of hot chocolate. "Mmmm." She was intensely satisfied until a rap on the door of her hotel room above the Leaky Cauldron pulled her away from her chocolate reverie.

"Lisa! Open up! Now!" Lisa took her long legs down from the chair they'd been resting on and twisted her head sharply towards the door, crinking her neck. She rubbed the side of it with one hand and placed her cocoa down with the other. Her dark eyebrows drew together sharply, a worry crease appearing between them above her pointed nose.

Lisa had never heard that voice in such an urgent manner as it was now. "Coming, Tyler!" she called back, hoping he wasn't a bringer of ill news. She dashed to the door, her bell-bottomed navy jeans flapping a bit as she hurried to the door and flung it open.

Tyler practically fell inside; he'd been leaning heavily against the solid wood. As soon as he saw Lisa standing there, he looked as if to cry. Lisa knew he was trying very hard not to, and she opened her arms to him. He came and hugged her so hard Lisa thought the taller boy would half strangle her.

"Ty, what's wrong?" Lisa said gently. She whispered it into his ear as his head rested on her shoulder. He shook his head, his forehead pulling against the fabric of her tight, long sleeved shirt. "Tyler?" she repeated, squeezing his arms for support.

Pulling back, Tyler seemed dazed. He looked at her through eyes that were so haunted that Lisa was almost sorry she asked. "Masha," was all Tyler could get out. "Masha." Lisa frowned as he fell against her again, hugging her tighter than before. Lisa gave a weak cough, and Tyler loosened his hold on her a little. He spoke into her shoulder, his warm breath heating her skin through her white shirt. "Masha's dead."

Lisa pulled away, horrified. Her mouth was opened slightly behind her hands, and the golden rim of her green eyes stood out as she shook her head with disbelief. "That, that's not right, is it? Tyler, it can't be right. Masha was fine last night. I saw her, she was fine, she was wonderful. She has to be wonderful."

Tyler stared at her as she spoke, and he knew she was going through what he'd gone through. "I called over her brother and some other Aurors, Lisa, and they told me for sure. I didn't want to believe it either-"

"Eugene!" Lisa said suddenly. "Is he okay?" Her eyes were filled with sadness and worry, and it appeared to have sunk in on her. "Oh, why oh why do we have to live in such awful times?" Lisa cried, wheeling her whole self away from Tyler's eyes that strangely reminded her of her cocoa.

He came up behind her and laid a hand on the same shoulder his head had rested on earlier. "Someone has to," he told her. "It's just us." Lisa turned towards him. He saw her large eyes were filled with tears that quivered on her eyelashes. "Oh, Lisa," he breathed. Never had he seen strong-willed Lisa cry, not even those days when people ridiculed her for being falsely accused of homicide.

She folded into his arms as he offered them, her own world disappearing as she tried to picture Eugene seeing Masha lying dead on the floor. She couldn't and so she opened her eyes, pulling an arm up and wiping her cheeks. They still shone with smudged lines of wetness, and Lisa's shoulders shook as Tyler held her.

-~•~-

Krystal Kan lazily drew two curved lines, resulting in a pleasing view of a girl's face as she added thick, light, long hair and thickly lashed large eyes. Krystal wondered vaguely if there was any hope for her as she worked on the body, then decided against it as she felt a chin coming to rest on top of her head.

"Whatcha drawing?" came Sirius Black's voice in her ear. "Is that me?" Krystal laughed. It was anything BUT Sirius. The only thing similar between the floating girl on her paper and Sirius was the playful smiles that played across their lips. Sirius kissed the top of her head. She turned to him and smiled. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed himself into the chair she sat in.

Krystal moved over, half of her on the chair and half off. She may have been taller than most of her female friends, but she had a slim build. Sirius was taller than she, and well-built. He kissed her ear, and she picked up her pencil again.

She went to work on the wings, dragonfly-like glittering ovals that fluttered in the picture. "She's pretty," Sirius noted as the little fae flew about in the picture's confines. "Is it you?" The picture came and hovered, and Krystal quickly drew some trees and a hammock in which the fae wafted down to. She batted her large eyes at Sirius, who laughed and looked back at Krystal.

"I'd love it to be," Krystal said. "But I don't have wings." She watched her drawing yawn widely, stretching her arms, and then snuggle into her hammock, closing her eyelids. "She's tired."

"You're not?" Sirius asked, feigning surprise.

"No. I'm wide awake, just sitting here."

"I think you just want to go to sleep."

"Very funny, Sirius, but I really do not want to. I just want to make my green tea and drink it in peace."

"Oh no you don't!"

"Oh yes I do."

"You just want to run off and go off to sleep looking all pretty like your picture, don't you?"

"No, actually. I want my green tea. I want to drink my green tea. I want to make my green tea and drink it and then, maybe, I'll be tired after about ten hours."

"I think you'd better skip your green tea then!" Sirius kissed Krystal full on the lips, and she didn't bother trying to pull away. He certainly knows my weak spots, she thought. As if reading her mind, Sirius slipped one arm under her arms and another beneath her knees and lifted her, still holding the kiss.

As he finally pulled away, laughing, Krystal burrowed her head in his shirt, giggling also. "Still up for that green tea?" he teased. She nodded against his chest, and wiggled her feet.

"I'm always up for green tea."

"I guess I'll have some too, then."

"Really?"

"Sure, it's good stuff. Nice and brown."

"It's green."

"Only if you say so."

"I do." Sirius set Krystal down, and she sighed, contented and not really cross like she'd meant to sound. "I'll make some," she told him. He slipped his arm around her waist, and nuzzled her cheek with his nose.

"I'm going to owl Tyler, okay?" he asked. Krystal looked up at him with her almond-shaped dark brown eyes, nodding. "Thanks. You're too nice to me. You ought to be mean sometime, you know." He went through an open doorway to a small office where an owl hooted quietly.

"Where's the fun in that?" she asked him, leaning in the doorway and rubbing her forearm with her other hand. "It's much more amusing to be nice. Plus, if I was mean, what would you do to me?" Sirius laughed as he dipped a large quill in an ink bottle, blotting it on a piece of scrap parchment before beginning his letter.

Krystal went into the tiny kitchen and took her wand, waving it towards the stovetop. The flame beneath the kettle leapt to life, and she took out two mugs and slipped a tea bag into each. When the hot water whistled after about two minutes, she waved her wand again and it poured itself into each cup.

She flicked her wrist and swished her wand as she'd been taught ten years earlier, and said, "Wingardium leviosa!" The two cups rose into the air with perfect balance, not even splashing as Krystal directed them through another doorway to the cozy dining room.

The cups set themselves gently in front of each of the two wooden chairs with deep blue cushions, and Krystal slid back into the one she'd been sitting in when Sirius had first come in. She picked up her pencil again, and fixed the trees as the fae snoozed in her hammock. She added more trees and shrubbery, and a boy fae who had feathered wings.

The boy fae looked totally lost until he spotted the girl fae. He winked up at Krystal as she lifted the page up, and the boy fae went and sat on the edge of the hammock. Krystal set it against the wall that was almost completely covered in her pictures, and she tapped it with her wand. The picture stuck, and Krystal's eyes drifted across her many works of art.

Many consisted of a lone girl or boy, but her newer (and better) sketches and colored pictures consisted of a boy and a girl of many races together. Krystal turned away, blushing slightly, and smiled as she watched the green tea go green with the tea bags.

A pop in the dining room's fireplace made her start. A head sat in the fireplace. "Lisa!" Krystal said. She looked closer, and saw that Lisa Valentine was crying. "Lisa, what's wrong?" Lisa looked almost deadly tortured, her usually bright eyes so shiny with tears as to be unreadable. Krystal knelt by the fire, sensing Sirius come to the doorway and watch.

"Tyler, could you talk?" Lisa's head turned away from Krystal. Krystal frowned at Lisa's dark brown, braided hair. It gave more emotion than Lisa's eyes had. Krystal vaguely heard a negative answer from the other side of the fire.

"Tyler's there?" Krystal asked, confused. "Isn't he supposed to be with Masha? She's got a show tonight, doesn't she?"

"Kry, there is no more Masha!"

"What do you mean, no more Masha?" Krystal was frightened. Lisa was close to tears, and indeed, one slipped down her rosy cheek. Krystal came closer, the dull heat of the fire warming her Oriental face.

"Krystal, Masha, she's, Mahsh is..." Lisa burst into tears. She did not pull away, but she closed her eyes and turned her head a little away, as if ashamed.

"What happened to Masha, Lisa?" Sirius broke in, coming swiftly to kneel beside Krystal. "Is she okay?" Lisa turned her head and stared at Sirius, and seeing her so sad, so exposed in a manner that Lisa had never been, almost broke his heart. Instinctively, protectively, he took Krystal's hand.

Lisa shook her head after a moment in answer to Sirius' questions. "She's dead, Sirius," she managed to choke out. Sirius flinched. His chocolate eyes widened with shock and a part of them seemed to shut down. Somewhere, behind his strength, he found his eyes filling.

"She can't be," he whispered. "It isn't right." Krystal stared at Lisa, not even moving as Sirius buried his face in her shoulder as Tyler had to Lisa. "Not Masha," he said, muffled by his lover's shirt.

Krystal felt Sirius' tears on her shoulder, but not with any reaction. Masha... She'd been a sister to both her and Sirius. And Lisa. "Lisa, I'm coming over, okay?" Krystal heard herself say. Lisa nodded and pulled out of the fireplace, the tips of her braids last to go, and then Krystal broke down. "Sirius," she sobbed quietly.

"I don't want to believe it, Kry," he whispered back. Krystal knew she looked awful, and she stood, pulling Sirius with her. "I can't believe it. Masha," Sirius said. "Why?"

"I don't know, Sirius. But it has to be true." Sirius wiped his eyes, his dark brown hair falling over his forehead. Krystal went into the kitchen, and stared at her tea as she stood in the doorway. It had stopped smoking, but Krystal still went over and drained it, her tears mixing with the sweet drink.

-~•~-

With a pop, Krystal and Sirius Apparated into Lisa's kitchen. "Krystal! Sirius!" came Lisa's voice before they could see her. Lisa came, still in her white shirt and bell bottoms. She came and hugged Krystal, her shoulders shaking silently.

Sirius came and wrapped his arms around both of them. Tyler came and watched them from the doorway. Krystal saw him first. "Tyler," she said. Tyler gave a very, very weak smile. Krystal motioned to him to join their three-person comfort hug. He came and joined them.

They stood together for a good minute in which each stayed to their own thought. Then Lisa slipped away and went into her bedroom, coming back with a denim jacket that fell to her hips. She slipped it over her white shirt and buttoned it, the waist fitted to accent her curvy frame.

She then slipped on her ankle boots, tying the dark laces over the black fabric, and she went to the door. "Where are you going?" Tyler asked her. She turned back, her eyes shining with drying tears behind her silver-rimmed glasses.

"To tell Remus," was all she said. Sirius raised his eyebrows at her as she pulled a blue corduroy hat down over her head. Lisa scrutinized him with cool eyes. "You think he's a traitor, don't you?" she said viciously. Sirius returned her stare. Neither flinched, and Krystal took Sirius' forearm and watched him with frightened eyes behind her own glasses.

He looked down at her, softly, then turned back to Lisa. His gaze hardened. "Who else is there to be a betrayer?" Lisa just looked at him. "It sure isn't me," he said angrily. "And Peter wouldn't do that."

"Neither would Remus," Tyler broke in angrily. "He wouldn't give up you guys."

"I know Remus as well as you do, Sirius," Lisa said. "And I, for one, trust him more than you. Even if he is a traitor to Lily and James, as you seem to think, he knew Masha just like you did." Lisa turned and pulled open the door to outside, turned back to give Sirius an angry glare, and walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Krystal looked at Sirius with sad eyes. He looked at Tyler, and Tyler glared at him angrily like Lisa had. "When this traitor comes into the light," he hissed venomously, "we'll see who was right. And it won't be you." Tyler went out into the cold in just his charcoal sweater, closing the door slightly easier than Lisa had, but with just as much heated emotion.

Sirius stared at the door. He felt Krystal's arms around him, but even now, he wondered if she was frightened of him. She was shaking, he noticed, and he pulled his eyes away from the door to look at the top of Krystal's head. "Krystal."

"Sirius, why do you blame Remus?" Krystal looked at him. He still didn't know she knew about Remus Lupin's lycanthropy. Now was a good a time as any. "Is it because he's a werewolf?"

Sirius stared at her, then smiled. "How long have you known?"

"A while. Since Lisa found out. She tells me these things."

"You are too much."

"No, that's you. You're too big for your brain. You should be a midget."

"Not nice." He smiled down at her, remembering why he'd fallen for her and not someone else as Krystal stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He turned his head, his lips meeting hers. Locked in the passionate kiss, Sirius Apparated them back to Krystal's apartment.

-~•~-

Lisa walked quickly through the street until she heard Tyler call her name. "Wait up, Lisa!" Lisa turned and saw Tyler jogging slightly to keep up with her. He caught up with her and his yellow-brown eyes watched her closely as he approached. "There's something going on with those Marauders."

Lisa nodded. "Yes," she agreed. Tyler nudged her with his elbow, raising his eyebrows. He might have been the manager of a nationally acclaimed singer, but Lisa was the heart and soul of their old classmates.

Lisa looked at him straight on, sizing him up as if to be sure he was up to the information she was about to disclose. "James and Lily are in hiding. You know that." Tyler nodded. "Dumbledore told them that he suspected someone close to them was betraying them. Sirius thinks it's Remus. I don't know what I think anymore," she finished as she resumed walking at a rapid pace.

Tyler hadn't thought the whole story could be told in one breath, but Lisa and her succinct manner did it.

"Slow down," Tyler instructed. He'd fallen behind. She did, a little, and Tyler caught up. "I still think it's Sirius. I don't care that Krystal trusts him, he seems sketchier than he was." Lisa raised an eyebrow. "He's not as open to us. He's so caught up with things." He looked at her. "Remus is still the same as he's always been. Just, he's older."

"Remus is far too good to do what Sirius thinks. I think he's probably the purest of the Marauders, personally." Lisa bit her lip. "It's just, Remus is quiet. Just because he doesn't talk much doesn't mean anything. You used to be pretty quiet yourself," Lisa said quietly.

"I know." Tyler looked thoughtful. "What about Peter, though?"

Lisa shook her head. "He's too small to be so awful. But Amber still won't tell me why she went to Canada." Tyler looked at her, confused. "Didn't I tell you?" Lisa asked. Tyler shook his head. "Oh. Well, Amber went away, you must know."

"Yeah, I've been wondering." Tyler glanced at Lisa. "Last time I saw her was at Lily and James' wedding. And she left right after the service. Masha seemed so upset about something, too," he recalled. "I had to give her a potion to control her nerves so she could sing with me for the reception."

"That was a good performance, by the way, if I never told you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Where were we?"

"Always the eager one, aren't you," Lisa remarked drily. "So Amber went away, then Peter got all depressed, or as depressed as he can get." Tyler noted in the back of his head that Lisa seemed rather cool as she talked seemingly nonchalantly about Peter.

"I see," was all he said. "And so what was going on with Pete and Mahsh?"

"Dunno. I'm guessing not too much, since Masha--" Lisa paused slightly-- "never talked to me about it. She used to like him a lot though, I don't know why she wouldn't tell me about it. Course, I wouldn't ever ask. That would've been suicide. You know how she gets." Lisa paused longer this time. "Or got, rather." Her voice got distinctly flat.

"All too well," Tyler told Lisa as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders for comfort, as well because of the chill bite in the late October wind. They resumed walking in silence for a few minutes, Tyler's arm still over Lisa's shoulders, until they reached the edge of the small English village.

When Remus' small, shabby-looking house came into sight, Lisa looked at it, coming to a slow halt as she and Tyler approached from a distance. "Tyler, can you go?" she asked. "I think I sound rude, but I want to tell him by myself."

Tyler gave her a rather wry smile. "Sure," he reassured her. He knew how things were between her and Remus, everyone knew, pretty much. "Tell him I... just, give him my regards, would you?" Tyler finished, a little rougher than he would've liked.

Lisa surprised herself by feeling a tear snake its way down her wind-whipped cheek, though whether from wind or sadness, she wasn't sure. "Of course, Ty," she promised. She smiled shakily, and then Tyler wrapped both arms around her in a hug between the two friends. "I'll see you later," Lisa whispered in his ear as she stood on her tiptoes.

"Bye," Tyler replied thickly, Apparating away. Lisa sighed resolutely and turned back to Remus' small, brick home. She eyed it warily, then shut her eyes for a second and opened them again, determinedly. She knew she had to tell Remus, but it was so hard sometimes with him. He seemed so... old sometimes. Not like he was fifty, but he acted so worldly, so much more mature, that Lisa felt wholly insignificant.

As Lisa resumed walking, this time in solitude, she shivered a little, missing that arm around her as she hugged herself. "Tyler, you rascal," she said with a small smirk on her face. She closed her eyes and spun on her toes, the wind pushing against her. "Brrr."

"It is cold, isn't it?" Lisa smiled ear to ear for the first time in what seemed like a very long time when she saw Remus had magically appeared beside her. She stopped walking immediately and wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes as she gently kissed his cheek. Remus gave a very small sigh of contentment, and Lisa pulled away, cheeks pinker than before.

No matter how many times she saw him, she only seemed to like him more. Remus, too, seemed a little pink-faced as he looked at her intently. "Hi," he said. "It's been a little while." Lisa pulled a pout with her small but full mouth, the centers of her dark eyebrows raising in a sort of puppy imitation.

"Only a week."

"And five days."

"Well, it hasn't seemed that long."

"It seemed longer."

"Or shorter."

"Maybe for you, but I get pretty lonely out here."

"Well, you needn't worry anymore. I'm staying for a little while, anyways. And you need to get out more." Lisa frowned a little, wondering how she could be so cheerful, now. "I hope you're in a good mood."

"Well, if I wasn't, I am now," Remus assured her. As if to accent how he felt, he couldn't resist pulling her off the ground to kiss her with her feet nearly dangling off the ground and her arms wrapped securely around Remus' neck. She closed her eyes, lost in the total lust and love that wrapped around the young pair.

When they finally pulled apart and Remus gently set Lisa back down, her eyes shining as they always did afterwards, Lisa glanced at him shyly. "It's my birthday soon."

"I know."

"On Halloween."

"I remember that year, when you pretended to be some sort of creature. You certainly scared me senseless." Remus smiled as the two walked on towards Remus' home.

"Right." From the look on Lisa's face, Remus saw she'd remembered something awful that he probably needed to know. He put an arm around her, and she looked up at him, her eyes sad. "Masha died," she said simply, her eyes once again for the third? fourth? time that day filling with tears.

Remus stopped walking. "Excuse me?" Lisa burrowed her face in her hands, the nails worn and beaten underneath the magical manicure. "Lisa?" he asked, seeing her shoulders trembling. He stared at her secluded form, so ignorantly unused to this side of Lisa, then came tentatively over and placed his chin on her head. "Oh, Lisa," he said.

"Everyone I care about dies, Remus," Lisa said, stepping back and facing him. "First Laurel and her family," she sobbed, and Remus recalled Lisa's cousin that had been murdered ten years ago, "and now Masha? Who's next? Krystal? Sirius? Amber? Lily and James and little Harry?" Remus looked down as her voice wavered. She started again, stronger. "Peter? What about you, Remus?" Finished, Lisa stopped and glared at him.

"Lisa, I, I..." He trailed off, unsure of himself, and Lisa spun away from him. Angry at her now for reasons he could not discern, he spun her by the shoulder. She looked shocked at his aggressiveness. "Lisa, I care about you more than anything in the world. I couldn't let myself live knowing anything had happened to you. You know that."

Lisa's startled expression receded. "You know how to make me feel better, Remus," Lisa affirmed, still crying but not shaking so much anymore. She looked at him, an almost mischievous glint in her eye as her tears subsided. "Can't we go back to your place or something?"

Remus almost laughed, happy she was back to normal, somewhat. He took her by the hand, and, checking to make sure no one was watching them, whisked them away to his apartment with a pop.

When Lisa had gathered in Remus' cozy den, which had been rearranged since last she'd seen it, she blinked. "I like that picture," she complimented. Remus dropped her hand and walked over to the mantelpiece, picking up a photograph framed in silver and set in front of the other photos.

In the black and white picture, there were two young girls, perhaps ten or eleven. One had long hair in a braid down her back and darker eyes that the other, who had two shorter braids a bit past her shoulders of the same shade and glasses that shone in an unknown light source, probably the sun, as she was pushed back and forth on a wide wooden swing by her companion.

Lisa came up behind Remus. "I think, I think that's me," she said. She pointed to the girl with long hair and no glasses, smiling slightly. Remus watched her as she looked at the picture, taking it in her hands. "And that's, that's Laurel." She pointed at the other, looking at Remus for affirmation.

Nodding, Remus came up behind her and put a protective arm around her shoulders, which were a bit wide like her hips but still gracefully feminine. He burrowed his face in Lisa's dark hair, inhaling the strong, minty scent that was in her shampoo. Lisa acted indifferent, but, pulling his head away, Remus saw the beginnings of a smile on her solemn face.

"Here," he said. "I have others." Remus walked over to his bedroom door, opening it. Lisa looked up at him, this time mischief totally obvious in her gaze as she stared at him with a smile playing on her lips when he turned back to her. "You know what, screw that," Remus then said, coming back and putting the photo back on the mantle and bending his head to kiss Lisa again.

-~•~-

As he stared down at the body of his dead twin sister lying on the floor, Eugene Yedvabnyy had trouble processing the sound of an Auror addressing him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked vaguely, staring at Masha's face.

The Auror sighed, his tan face a bit pink with regret. "This is your sister?" Eugene nodded. "Twin?" Nod. "You okay?" He shook his head, then knelt by Masha. The Auror drew back to give a little less barging-in sort of look. Eugene said nothing out loud, but then tender way in which he took his sister's cold hand made the Auror's eyes brim.

"Mr. Yedvabnyy?" the Auror asked after a few minutes. "I'm sad for you. Me mum died a few years ago. I am so angry at the whole world for what our generation has to go through. But with work, we will be able to set it straight."

Eugene looked up at the Auror. Despite the roughness of the burly man, he had a soft look in his eyes, and it was almost heart-wrenching to see the sadness that lingered, hidden, behind his strong exterior.

It was a picture Eugene was not particularly inclined to enjoy.

-~•~-

Tyler sat.

He sat with his feet sitting firmly on the ground, his hands cupping his face, his eyes large and unblinking as they stared at the white rug that was the floor of his bedroom.

Tyler thought.

He thought about Masha, that exquisite, exotic, beautiful singer that he had grown to love; about Eugene, that pleasantly welcoming, albeit a bit sharp, twin of Masha's who'd never been daunted by his sister's success; and most of all he thought about himself.

Tyler wondered.

He wondered who he was without Masha, and where he would go. Would he be destined to sit on his bed and think and wonder forever?

Tyler contemplated.

He contemplated his choices: he could mourn, or he could remember, or he could forget. Was it so bad to have all three? Was it even possible? What did he want? What would Masha want?

Tyler decided.

He stood up, and stretched his arms to the heavens, and took out his wand.

-~•~-